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Raiders Set to Host Jaguars in Home Opener

The Oakland Raiders host the Jacksonville Jaguars in the home opener for the Silver and Black this Sunday.

The Oakland Raiders return to O.co Coliseum for their home opener as they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, September 15. The Raiders and Jaguars will face off in Oakland for the second-straight season, with the Silver and Black besting the Jaguars in overtime last year, 26-23. Oakland is coming off a last-minute loss last week on the road against Indianapolis, 21-17, while Jacksonville travels cross country after falling at home in their season opener to Kansas City, 28-2.

The Raiders’ last-minute drive with a chance to win the game fell short, as QB Terrelle Pryor’s pass was intercepted by Colts S Antoine Bethea deep in Colts territory. Pryor, making just his second NFL start, finished 19-of-29 for 217 yards with one TD and one interception. He also set a Raiders single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 112. WR Rod Streater was one of Pryor’s favorite targets, as he hauled in five receptions for 70 yards on the day. RB Darren McFadden added 48 rushing yards and a one-yard TD run as well as 18 more receiving yards. LB Nick Roach led the defensive attack with nine tackles, while the unit produced four sacks.

Jacksonville is coming off a loss against Kansas City, 28-2. The Jaguars got the scoring started early when they blocked a punt for a safety. RB Maurice Jones-Drew paced the rushing attack with 45 yards on the ground, while QB Blaine Gabbert passed for 121 yards. Jacksonville’s defense limited the Chiefs to just 291 yards of total offense on the day.

Following Sunday’s contest, the Raiders will travel to Denver for a prime-time game on Monday Night Football on September 23 at 5:40 p.m. The Jaguars will be playing their second-straight game on the West Coast in Week 3, traveling up the coast to take on the Seahawks.

“Make no mistake about it, there are no moral victories in the National Foot­ball League. We competed, but at the end of the day, we didn’t get the thing done. I thought we did a lot of really good things, but also thought there were some critical mistakes we made that we have to make sure we get cor­rected. I think it shows a lot of character the way they were able to battle back from being 14 down in the first quarter. There are still a lot of things we need to get cleaned up, and that’s where we have to improve. The mindset is there, the execution is what we have to continue to improve.” -- Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen

Pro Connections

Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson served as assistant head coach/ quarterbacks coach for the Jaguars in 2012.

Raiders assistant head coach/offensive line coach Tony Sparano served as the tight ends coach for Jacksonville in 2002.

Raiders T Khalif Barnes was drafted by the Jaguars in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft and played in Jacksonville from 2005-08 before joining the Silver and Black.

Raiders RB Rashad Jennings was drafted by the Jaguars in the seventh round (250th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played in Jacksonville from 2009-12 and posted 944 rushing yards in his four seasons.

College Connections

Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor and CB Chimdi Chekwa played with Jaguars G/C Mike Brewster from 2008-10 at Ohio State. In 2010, the trio led the Buckeyes to the Sugar Bowl, where Pryor was named the game’s MVP.

Raiders DE Lamarr Houston and Jaguars DT Roy Miller were teammates along the defensive line at the University of Texas from 2006-08. Together, they helped the Longhorns lead the Big 12 in scoring defense (18.8) and total de­fense (342.9).

Raiders LB Sio Moore and Jaguars CB Dwayne Gratz played together on the defensive unit at Connecticut from 2009-12. Both players were third-round selections by their respective teams in the 2013 NFL Draft.

Raiders DT Pat Sims and Jaguars DT Sen’Derrick Marks were teammates on the Auburn defensive line from 2006-07. In 2007, Sims was a first-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press.

Raiders WR Jacoby Ford and Jaguars DE Andre Branch played together at Clemson from 2008-09. As a Tiger, Ford played in 48 games with 27 starts, catching 143 passes for 1,986 yards and 16 TDs.

Making just his second NFL start last Sunday, QB Terrelle Pryor has already found himself in the Raiders’ record books. Pryor rushed for 112 yards in last Sunday’s loss at Indianapolis, setting a new record for rushing yards by a quarterback in Raiders history. The previous mark of 85 rushing yards was held by Rich Gannon.

Overview: The Jacksonville Jaguars finished the 2012 season with a record of 2-14 and failed to make the playoffs for the fourth-straight season. The 2012 sea­son marked the third time in the last five seasons that the Jaguars finished in fourth place in the AFC South Division. The team looks to improve upon their 2012 campaign and has retooled by adding a new coach, Gus Bradley, who comes to the team after serving as the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator from 2009-12. The Jaguars will look return to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

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Offense: The Jaguars offense is led by Pro Bowl RB Maurice Jones-Drew, who is entering into his eighth season with the team. Jones-Drew was injured early on in the 2012 season, rushing for only 414 yards. Jones-Drew led the league in rushing yards in 2011 (1,606) and has eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark three times in his career.

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Defense: The 2013 unit looks to build on a new foundation with Head Coach Gus Bradley, who helped turn the Seattle Seahawks into a top-5 defense during his time there. The team drafted S Jonathan Cyprien (2nd round) and CB Dwayne Getz (3rd round), bolstering their secondary. The defense is anchored by LB Paul Posluszny, who had a solid 2012 season finishing with 139 tackles, three inter­ceptions, two forced fumbles and two sacks.

Standouts vs. Jaguars

LB Kevin Burnett: For his career vs. the Jaguars, Burnett has filled up the stat sheet. He has totaled 13 tackles, one sack, one interception, one fumble recovery and two passes defensed.

DE Lamarr Houston: In last season’s matchup, Houston had a standout game on defense, post­ing eight tackles, one sack and one forced fumble in the Raiders’ 26-23 OT victory. Houston was named the AFC’s Defensive Player of Week for his efforts.

RB Darren McFadden: On 12/12/10, McFadden exploded for 209 total yards of offense, 123 rushing and 86 receiving. His 123 rushing yards came on just 17 carries, giving him a whopping 7.7 yards per carry. He also scored on a 67-yard reception, the longest of his career.

Condo played in his 100th-career game last week against Indianapolis. He has appeared in all 16 games in each of the previous six seasons. With four more consecutive games played, Condo will reach 100-consecutive games played. Condo has not missed a game since the streak began, in Week 1 of the 2007 season.

K Sebastian Janikowski

Janikowski has now converted on 130 consecutive PAT attempts.

Needs six points to reach 1,400 for his career.

Needs just one touchback to reach 250 in his career.

RB Rashad Jennings

Needs 54 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for his career. He currently stands at 946.

RB Darren McFadden

Needs 259 rushing yards to move into eighth place on the Raiders’ all-tme rushing list.

Needs two rushing TDs to tie No. 10 Michael Bush (21, 2008-11) on the franchise’s career list, four to tie No. 9 Marv Hubbard (22, 1969-75) and six to tie No. 8 Charlie Smith (24, 1968-74). McFadden enters the game with 19.

Needs 33 receiving yards to eclipse 1,500 yards for his career.

Will move into seventh place on the Raiders’ all-time receptions list by a running back with just two more.

QB Terrelle Pryor

Is currently second in the NFL with 112 rushing yards. Pryor could eclipse the Raid­ers’ single-season mark of rushing yards by a quarterback with just 417 more yards. Rich Gannon set the mark in 2000 with 529.